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Owner of Brawley Business Sentenced

The owner of Dunes Edge Storage and in Brawley and Dunes Toy Storage in Holtville was sentenced to pay $190,000 for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Kyle Vestermark , 46 ,of Long Beach , California , had entered pleas of guilty to conspiring to illegally dispose of sewage underground at the Brawley and Holtville businesses. Vestermark admitted that he and his firm illegally discharged sewage from recreational vehicles stored at both locations , without a permit , from June of 2004 through April of 2015. According to the Office of the U.S. Attorney in San Diego , Vestermark admitted that in 2004 he and his firm obtained a permit from the Imperial County Public Health Department for a 10,000 gallon holding tank for the RV storage facility in Brawley and a Conditional Use Permit in 2005 from the Imperial County Planning Department for the Holtville facility. Both permits specifically prohibited the installation of underground leach lines for the disposal of the sewage. The permits required Vestermark to hire a firm to pump the holding tanks and dispose the sewage at a wastewater treatment plant.

Vestermard admitted to authorities that he used heavy equipment himself to install leach lines , and hit the water table when installing the dump station at the Brawley location. Imperial County authorities discovered the leach lines in 2015 and were then removed.

In sentencing the defendants , U.S. District Judge Janis I. Sammartino ordered Vestermark and the business to pay a fine of $40,000 and forfeit $150,000 in proceeds from the offense , based on money saved by the defendants when they didn't pay for proper disposal. Both defendants , Vestermark and Dune Edge Storage , LLC , were placed on five years probation. Vestrmark was placed on home detention for eight months.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ,Criminal Investigation Division ; and the Bureau of Land Management , Office of Law Enforcement were involved in the prosecution.